Voice Of The Silent
by YourSecretStalker
Summary: Fifteen years prior, Elizabeth came into this world by unique means. Now she is Lt. Colonel Hughes's best chance at unraveling an on-going case. But how is she supposed to tell him anything without a voice? With the arrival of the Elric brothers, Hughes believes that they may be the key to finding that which has been lost.


**Prologue**

_"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" That was the scream that started it all._

_"Sweetie, are you okay?!" The young man rushed over to where his wife, Hope, was leaning against the table, clutching her swollen stomach. Her brown hair clung to her sweaty face. She looked up with her big brown eyes and met Calcifer's gray, terrified ones. He saw fear, happiness, pain, and many other conflicting emotions from her eyes. The corners of her full lips turned into a small smile until it hit her. She doubled over and fell onto the cold, wooden floor of their living room. He dashed over and kneeled in front of her, trying to see her face. She was gasping for air like she had been sucker punched in the gut._

_"She's comi…AHHHHHH!" Hope tried to say before another contraction hit her. Cal felt so torn that he had done this to her. He wanted to take it all back while he heard her pained screams. But Hope had to bear this pain and Cal had to be there for her in any way possible. They had to. For their child. He had to get her to the town doctor, or the doctor to her. He sprung up but flinched when he heard her scream again. He ran for the door and flung it open only to be met with water pelting him in the face and jagged lines lighting up the dark sky. 'Damn', was the first word that came to his mind. It was storming too badly to take her outside. Perhaps he could call for the doctor instead? _

_He slammed the door shut and raced for the telephone, snatching up the receiver and pressing it to his ear. There was no dial tone, meaning the storm had knocked out the phone lines. _

"_Damn it all!" Cal cursed venomously, hanging the phone up with enough force to crack the receiver. He couldn't care less. Not with Hope's screams beckoning for some form of relief._

_Calcifer sprinted back to the living room where his wife lay. She was screaming even more loudly, fingernails digging into the wood floor drenched in the same fluid that soiled her skirt from when her water broke. He got on his knees, trying to do his best to comfort her. The usually tan woman was now pale as a sheet. He picked her up and placed her on a dry part of the floor. Her screams were becoming more frequent now. Cal knew his wife wasn't ready to start pushing; she had only gone into labor ten minutes ago. Raking his fingers through his thick, black hair, he whispered comforting words in her ears for the next few minutes. All he could do was keep her calm and reassure her that everything would be fine._

_"Hope, you need to bear with me. I know you aren't feeling well, but you have to hold on until the storm clears," he told his wife seriously. Women stay in labor for many hours. All they needed to do was wait for the rain to let up. Cal fervently hoped that he would be able to go get the doctor then. The nerves were too much for him; he didn't know if he was capable of helping his wife birth their child by himself. _

_Hope nodded so wearily he wasn't sure he saw her nod. Cal ran soothing lines across her face, relaying to her through touch that he was there for her._

_"Okay, first things first. I need to move you to the bed. You'll be more comfortable there," Calcifer told her, voice shaking slightly. He tucked one arm around her back, the other under her knees. When he began to lift, Hope let out an ear-shattering scream. Cal glanced down and saw an awfully large amount of blood gush out between her legs, the flow continuing without stop._

_"Something is wrong," she managed to strangle out of her hoarse throat. He didn't need to be told twice. By the look of how much blood she was losing, she wouldn't make it and neither would their baby. He tightened his grip around her shoulders, thoughts racing frantically of possibilities. He couldn't lose them. This was his wife and child! He would not let them die, not when he hadn't even seen their baby yet._

_A solution came to his addled mind. While he may not be a doctor, there was one thing he could confidently call himself: an alchemist. He wasn't the best alchemist but he had spent half his life studying the science of constructing and deconstructing matter. The knowledge he had accumulated over years of rigid study flowed within him in the form of arrays, equations, and elements. This was Cal's best resource and the best route to go. Plus, there wasn't any time to find a safer course of action. He had to do this _now_!_

_With a new determination, he set Hope down gently and moved over to the side to find another dry spot on the wood floor. He drew a piece of chalk from his pocket and sketched out an array with no longer shaking hands. This was his field of expertise. The ball was in his park now. He could do this._

_A clash of thunder, coupled with a spark of lightening, shook the walls of the modest home, knocking the lights out. Honestly, Cal was surprised the electricity had lasted this long. That didn't make the new problem of darkness any more convenient. Listening to the whimpers of his beloved, he felt his way around the darkened room and, while steering clear of messing up his near finished circle, Cal made it to his desk. There, he quickly found his lighter from the desk drawer and used the light from the tiny flame to locate a candle. He managed to find a few other candles as well, placing them around the room to efficiently light the area in a muted glow. He sat the first candle directly beside the array and resumed working. Minutes later and the lines were complete._

_Calcifer wasted no time hurrying back to his bloody wife, picking her up bridal style and laying her gently in the middle of the giant array. He made sure to put a sheet under her so the blood would not ruin the lines and symbols. Hope no longer screamed as he moved her, not having the energy to do more than whine in discomfort. Her eyelids fluttered, and as he let her go she made no more sounds._

_His heart clenched. "Hope," he whispered. She could do no more than glance at him, lids drooping wearily. It was clear to both of them that the pain and blood loss was greatly effecting her. She wouldn't last much longer. It was now or never. _

_Cal rushed to the outer circle's edge, crouching beside the array. As he took in deep breaths to prepare himself, he recalled all of the information he had gathered on medical alchemy. The subject was a recent study of his, one that he hadn't delved in too deeply but he prayed that it would be enough. All he needed to do was stop the bleeding. He could do that much. _

_He desperately hoped that he could._

_Gray eyes focused on steady hands as he reached for the array. The chalk bloomed in a golden light, alchemic sparks erupting from the array and causing a billowing wind to sweep across the room. Cal's bangs whipped in his face, his loose clothes dancing from the moving air as well, and he smiled. He smiled because it was working, because he could feel the power of the alchemy do as he willed it to, because Hope would be okay and their child would be born safely. _

_The smile didn't last._

_The color changed from gold to a sickening blood red tinged in purple and black. Sensing the transmutation beginning to rebound, he sought to halt it by removing his hands. He could not move. The same alchemic force running rampart around them held his hands in place. He found he couldn't move his body either. He stared in horror as a giant eye opened beneath his wife. The look of fear on Hope's face made his stomach drop. Sitting there, watching little black hands from the eye grab at his wife taking chunks of her flesh, he wanted to look away. He wanted to scream and cry out. But Cal could do nothing more than watch in agonized silence as his wife was taken away from him bit by painful bit. And the entire time, the _entire_ time, she screamed his name, each cry sending a jolt of agony straight to his soul._

_It was a nightmare. This had to be. He wanted to wake up. Why wasn't he waking up? Dear God, why wasn't he waking up?!_

_Calcifer sat there for what seemed like forever until all that was left of his wife was a small, bloodied figure echoing the cries of its vanished mother. Yes, in Hope's place lay her unborn baby. Unborn, because the infant had never truly been birthed. Those hands had made sure of that. They had feasted upon Hope with ravenous ferocity…but why not the baby? What the hell was going on? What did Cal do?_

_What did he _do_?!_

_The light had faded and the eye had long since closed. He let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding and gasped in more air, seeming unable to breathe correctly. It had all happened so fast; Cal doubted more than five minutes had passed. He slumped to the ground while seeing black spots dotting his vision. He blinked rapidly, trying to rid his sight of them. Gathering the last of his strength, he pulled himself the few feet that separated him and his crying daughter. Still in shock, he curled his body around his child and pulled her close. In a broken voice, Cal managed a few words before he fell into the oblivion of unconsciousness. _

_"Hello…Elizabeth."_

**AN: Hello everybody! I just want to say thanks for reading so far. If this was the original version, you probably wouldn't have kept reading. I finally decided to post this since it has been edited since Feburary. Or somewhere around that time. xD It may be confusing now, but I promise everything will make sense later on. I can't say how long though. It depends on the flow of the story.**

** Special thanks to LeFay Strent, for editing this and helping co-author the story. It wouldn't be anywhere near this good without her! (Shoutout to LeFay: I love you sissy! You're the best!) I would also like to thank my other online friends who have encouraged me to further write on this story. You know who you are!**  
** As for the next chapter, I will try and have it out within a few weeks. No promises though. I have projects due in school and finals this week. Then I have to do things for Spanish class and Christmas shopping. Feel free to review and tell me to hurry up with the chapter. If I have so many people on my back about it, it probably will get done faster. Thanks again for reading so far! **

** I also don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did, I would be making an anime of this, not writing a story! That's probably the only disclaimer you guys are going to get from me! I'm more likely to forgot to put it in every chapter. Well, until next time! **


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